The quest for advance from mediocrity to excellence involves a transformational approach to leadership and management, demanding commitment of both managers and subordinates. The Manager as Developer describes how performance excellence can be achieved through full utilization of subordinates' knowledge and abilities. Managers, instead of providing answers or holding tightly onto control, build an environment in which the subordinates can contribute their best. This study seeks to explore the competence of nurse mangers in developing staff and in building high performance team in a public hospital of Hong Kong. Questionnaires exploring their competence in performance of vision building, staff developing, developing teamwork, group decision making, developing staff autonomy, two-way communication, and managing external influence of nurse managers were completed by 165 nurses and nurse managers. Though they all recognized its importance, the managers were perceived to be moderately competent in performing the role of people developer. The nursing management was operating at the Technician-Manager / Conductor-Manager mode. The perception of the managers' performance differed among different rank of nurses in the hospital. Their competence in different skill clusters was discussed in relation to the existing healthcare practice and environment. Application of the framework in today's health care environment and Hong Kong, and recommendations for implementation of change were discussed. Limitation of study was also considered.